The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has responded to growing media reports alleging series of financial malpractice against Chairman Attahiru Jega and other leading officers.
According to the commission, these reports are mere campaigns of calumny ahead of the 2015 general elections that will not be allowed to dent the commission’s resolve to conduct free and fair elections in 2015 in line with international standards.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has observed a recent campaign by partisan interests in the media to tar the reputation of its leadership, particularly the Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega (OFR),” Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Kayode Idowu wrote in a media statement.
“This campaign has so far been waged in the form of serial press reports of alleged financial misdeeds, either directly committed or approved by the Chairman of the Commission. Expectedly, the reports were no more than wild allegations, with no iota of proof or evidence to substantiate them. Few of these reports indeed crossed the line of journalistic decorum, and are accordingly being processed for libel litigation.”
Idowu revealed the commission’s possession of information that the campaign will not be left at the level of press reports alone but that there were designs to scale up the plot into public displays of hostility towards INEC, such as through rented street rallies against its present leadership, among other measures.
“The whole point of this devious campaign, obviously, is to deflate the integrity of the Commission and cast doubt on its credibility and ability to conduct the 2015 General Election in accordance with international best standards,” the statement added.
“The Commission hereby reassures the public of its commitment to uphold its integrity, fairness and impartiality as an umpire of the electoral process. It will stay focused on its programmes to deliver elections that will be world class in fairness and credibility, come 2015, despite the daunting challenges. But the Commission must here again restate, as it has always done, that it cannot do it alone. It therefore pleads with other stakeholders, especially politicians, to equally commit to this cause.”
